Door for automatic weighing-machines



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W E NIOKERSON DOOR FOR AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MACHINES. No, 555,179.

Patented Feb. 25, 1896.

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W. E. NIOKERSON. DOOR FOR AUTOMATIC. WEIGHING MACHINES.

No. 555,179. Patented Feb. 25, 1896.

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W {m %gmm 01W UNITED STATES PATENT Orricn.

\VILLIAM EMERY NICKERSON, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

DOOR FOR AUTOMATIC WElGHING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,179, dated February25, 1896.

Application filed May 24, 1895.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM EMERY NIcK- ERSON, of Cambridge, in thecounty of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Doors for Automatic NVeighing-lllachines, of whichthe following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification.

My invention relates to discharge-doors es pecially adapted to be usedin connection with automatic weighing-machines.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a front elevation of my device, the doors (shown mostly bydotted lines) being closed. Fig. 2 is a front elevation, the doors(shown mostly by dotted lines) being open. Fig. 3 is a central verticalsection in a plane at right angles to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Figs.4 and 5 are explanatory of details.

In the drawings, A represents the bucket of a weighing-machine, adaptedto descend a limited distance when loaded and to return to its originalposition when its load has been discharged. The bucket A is provided atthe front and back with the pins B and b, which serve to support thesupplementary bucket O and also as pivots for the doors D and D. Thepivotal pins B and b are located centrally vertical over the dischargeorifice of the bucket, whereby the doors tend to close against eachother naturally without weighting them with counterbalances. The doors Dand D are provided with the arms E and E, respectively. Upon the upperend of the arm E is pivoted the latch F, said latch being composed oftwo or more separate parts or leaves F, F and F these being shown movedapart in Fig. 5. The latch turns upon the pin G fixed in the arm E. Thearm E carries at its upper end the pin H, which serves to engage withthe latch F by means of the shoulders J J J in the leaves F, F and F Theshoulders in the different leaves of the latch are so arranged that theshoulder in each leaf progressively in the set is located a littlenearer to the pivotal pin G than its predecessorthat is, the shoulder Jis nearer than J, and J 'is nearer than J. The object of thisarrangement is to cause the doors to be as tightly latched as possibleand at the Serial No. 550,554. (No model.)

same time to avoid the possibility of failure to latch if for any reasonthe doors fail to come completely together, as might result from smallparticles remaining between their edgesthat is to say, if the doors donot close tight enough to allow the leaf with the most distant shoulderto engage with the latch-pin one of the other leaves having a shouldernearer the pivotal pin will engage, and so hold the doors.

The doors I) and D are provided with the wing-pieces K and K, whichserve the pur pose of preventin the doors from closingprematurelythatis, before all the load has fallen below them. These wing-pieces operateby resting against the massof material which is temporarily retained inthe supplementary bucket O, whose discharge-aperture C is somewhat lessin capacity than the dooropening of the bucket A.

Instead of the supplementary bucket C being hung to the bucket A, itmight be supported independently of it, with practically the same effectas far as the operation of the wing-pieces is concerned.

Attached to some fixed part of the machine is the rigid arm M, in frontof the bucket A, but in no way connected with it. This arm is providedwith the pin M, which engages upon a descent of the bucket with the endof the latch F and causes its disengagement with the pin H, allowing thedoors to be opened by the pressure of the load within.

The operation of my device is as follows: Upon a descent of the bucket Awith its load the latch F engages with the pin M upon the fixed arm M,(see Fig. 4,) and the shoulders of the latch are forced out ofengagement with the pin H in the arm E. This allows the pressure of theload to open the doors, and the parts take the positions shown in Fig.2. The load now falls into the supplementary bucket O, which temporarilyretains a mass of the material and prevents the doors from closing, bythe action of the wing-pieces K and K, until all of the load has clearedthe doors D and D. 'When the load has fallen below the wing-pieces, thedoors close and the bucket rises to its first position, allowing thelatch to again engage with the pin H, and is then ready to receiveanother load. It is obvious that either of the doors D or D would beoperative if the other were a fixed part of the bucket A. It is alsoobvious that the latch 1 and engaging-pin ll, instead of being mountedupon the arms E and E, might be placed upon the doors themselves belowthe fulcrum-pin B by using suitable modifications.

1. In a weighing-machine, the weighingbucket A and the doors D and Dadapted when shut to close the discharge-orifice of said bucket; incombination with the win gpieces K and K attached to said doors andadapted to prevent their premature closin by resting on materialretarded by the supplementary bucket O, and the supplementary bucket 0adapted to temporarily retain a portion of the load and thereby.co-operate with said wing-pieces as described, substantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

2. In a weighing-1naehine, in combination, the weighing-bucket A, thedoors I) and 1) adapted when shut to close the dischargeopcning of saidbucket, the pivotal pins 1 and I) attached to the sides of the saidbucket and adapted to support the said doors, the latch 1* adapted tohold said doors closed by engaging with the latch-pin II, the latch-pinII and fixed disengaging-pin M, the wingpieces K and K attached to thedoors I) and l) and adapted in connection with the supplementary bucketO to prevent the premature closing of said doors as described, and thesupplementary bucket 0 adapted by temporarily retaining a portion of theload, to co-operate with the said wing-pieces, substan' tially as andfor the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 2] st day of May, A. D.1895.

\VITFLIAM EMERY NICKERSON.

.Vitnesses:

FRANK G. PARKER, EDWARD S. l )AY.

